The putative Nazi in this case was a floppy-haired fascist by the name of Richard Spencer who coined the term alt-right. He was talking to the ABC's own Zoe Daniel and most people who saw the video of him getting elbow-smashed in the head would not know that he'd been hit just a few moments earlier, by the same masked avenger. Daniel saw the initial assault and quickly grabbed Spencer for an interview about the deteriorating situation on the streets around them.

Police were starting to fire tear gas and flash bangs to break up the contending mobs.

Punching-bag Richard Spencer may very well have been a hit with Hitler.

Photo: Twitter

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Spencer was concentrating on her when his attacker came in for a second go, leading to the footage which quickly went viral and sparked off a global argument about whether it's OK to punch a Nazi.

I confess myself confused. On first blush it seems not just a good idea, but a great one. Perhaps the best argument in favour of punching Nazis I've read this week comes from the writer Warren Ellis, who argued in his private subscription newsletter:

"I understand there's been some confusion online as to whether it's ever right to punch a Nazi in the face. There is a compelling argument that all speech is equal and we should trust to the discourse to reveal these ideas for what they are and confidently expect them to be denounced and crushed out by the mechanisms of democracy and freedom.

"All I can tell you is, from my perspective as an old English socialist and cultural liberal who is probably way to the woolly left from most of you and actually has a medal for services to free speech – yes, it is always correct to punch Nazis. They lost the right to not be punched in the face when they started spouting genocidal ideologies that in living memory killed millions upon millions of people. And anyone who stands up and respectfully applauds their perfect right to say these things should probably also be punched, because they are clearly surplus to human requirements.

"Nazis do not need a hug. Nazis do not need to be indulged. Their world doesn't get better until you've been removed from it. Your false equivalences mean nothing. Their agenda is always, always, extermination. Nazis need a punch in the face."

I read this and thought, not just yes, but hell yes. Let's go punch some Nazis.

Especially floppy-haired ones who run away and cry.

But then my colleague, Mr Ben Pobjie, who really doesn't like Nazis very much at all, retorted with this, on the Book of Face:

"Look, if you think that as long as someone's views are abhorrent enough, it's OK to assault them whenever you feel like it, then fine. Punching bad people feels great and videos of it are funny.

"But don't pretend that in doing it, you're actually doing 'activism', or in any way helping any noble cause. And seriously, don't reference World War II as if king-hitting a defenceless guy in the middle of an interview is just what the Allies did. Or even worse, imagining that Hitler rose to power because nobody had the guts to punch him. Which is literally what I've been told today.

"If you think punching people you don't like is great, then go for your life. Just don't make such idiotic arguments to make yourself feel more like a freedom fighter when all you are is a hedonist."

Hmm, suddenly the piss and vinegar ran right out of me. They both seem right and I still haven't resolved the question to my satisfaction.

On general principles, yes. I am with Warren 'Fists of Fury' Ellis. In the end, you don't get a choice with Nazis.

You're going to have to deal with them eventually. So maybe it's better to punch on when they're a bit distracted and almost certainly weakened by a ridiculous haircut. You don't want them getting their heads shaved properly or getting together with the other Nazis to take control of a failing liberal democratic state which they then turn into a gigantic human threshing machine powered by mass murder and racial insanity.

On the other hand, if you're going to punch somebody, especially a Nazi, isn't the decent thing to do, the thing that literally makes you a better person than the Nazi, to call the dreadful fellow out for his appalling opinions and despicable behaviour and to offer him the opportunity for a damned good thrashing? I think maybe this is where I can get behind Mr Ellis, but without horrifying Mr Pobjie.

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Yes, actual goose-stepping, honest-to-goddamn Hitler-licking Nazis should be punched. Repeatedly. But unless you're leading a sneak attack on the heavy water facility at a secret Nazi atom bomb project, you should really have the courage to confront them for a full and frank exchange of views which can then proceed to a satisfyingly punchy conclusion.

If you're not willing to do that, and all of the years of close-combat training required to have it end well, then maybe consider registering to vote as a first essential step in doing something that might make a difference.

John Birmingham is a columnist and blogger for the Brisbane Times. He is also an award winning magazine writer and the author of Leviathan, the Unauthorised Biography of Sydney, which won the National Award for Non-Fiction. He amuses himself in his down time by writing novels which improve with altitude.